Exentio here, sorry for the interjection. Due to *sigh* limitations from Tapas, the story is split into parts. It's annoying, I only have 15,000 characters. You can read it in one piece on Yozakura by clicking on the banner, on the image at the end, or by writing this URL: https://yozakura.me/projects/exentio/dreamer/place

Back to the story.

My stance seems solid, my grip is firm. I’m focused, I can do this. Prepare the swing. Breathe in. Hold my breath, count to two. One, two. Breathe out. I’m focused. I’m ready. I’m putting all my strength into this swing. My shoulders are moving together with my hips, arms swinging toward the target. The movement is complete, it’s my best effort yet, I’m confident. I look far away: I see nothing. Then back at my feet. Yep, I missed the ball again. I want to go back to the office.

I feel what is supposed to be a friendly pat on the back but has probably cracked a bunch of vertebrae in my spine. “Told you to look right in front of the ball, hahaha! Ain’t gonna hit the ball if you look away!”
“… Can I go home?”
“Come on, I gotta make a good impression on this investor! You want as much budget as possible for the project, don’t you? Hahaha!”
I sigh, “I do. But why me?”
“Why you? You’re the face of the game, Laszlo, like it or not, hahaha! Come on, see it as some bonding time with your future father-in-law!”
“Sir, me and your daughter broke up over a year ago…”
“Oh, that’s right. Well, you’re still a good guy!”

Ahhh, once again victim of the whims of my boss. He’s a very good person, but I always end up involved in stuff like this. I won an internal selection for the development of a new videogame series in our company, and since I’m the character designer and the de facto game director, he wants me to be the “face” of the game, which includes meeting the investors whenever they request my presence or even barely hint at being interested in me. I guess this would be fine for most people, but not for me and my crippling social anxiety.

“I’m sure a video call would’ve been enough…”
I get another pat on my back, I’m unsure whether my back can withstand another one. “That’s not how business works, boyo! This investor loves golf, so we gotta meet on the green, hahaha!”
I really can’t help thinking that my presence is not needed, though.
“Also, last time you used that anime thing-“
The cursed memory struck my brain like lightning. “D-don’t remind me of that! That was an incident, it won’t happen again!”

So… last time I talked to an investor we had a video call, but my messed up brain thought I was about to start streaming, and instead of simply turning my webcam on like a normal person I switched to the 2D anime model I use the few times I stream online, and I only noticed halfway through. Thankfully the guy had fun and didn’t mind it at all.

This time he ruffles my hair, my spine is safe. “Still, that was funny in its own way, hahaha! Now let’s practice your swings while we wait for him!”
“Yes sir…”

I still don’t have any idea why he’s so attached to me. It surely isn’t because I used to date his daughter, since he was already like this before that happened. I met him at the last stage of my hiring process, he interviewed me without telling me his position in the company, and I was too nervous to even consider asking; despite my anxiety and inability to look him in the eyes, he still said he was curious about my creative vision and “intrigued” about my potential, even though I’m not sure I understand what he meant.
He’s a producer at the company, arguably the most influential one, and while he pays attention to everyone, he’s particularly fixated on me. He comes to my desk and starts sharing advice and tips more extensively than with anyone else. My colleagues all look a bit jealous, and I’ve been wondering if I should start watching my back. He often invites all the teams that he supervisions out for lunch, and when it’s the turn of my team he ends up chatting with me most of the time. I can’t deny that I like him, he’s taught me a lot and sometimes he’s even more of a mentor than my actual seniors, and it’s clear that he cares about me on a personal level, not just as an employee of the company. It’s known that he’s been on the staff of some games, but we don’t know to what extent besides some roles like “team manager” and “production assistant” that appear in some end credits. It’s almost as if all the information about him was thrown in a black hole, and he’s refusing to tell anyone “to keep an air of mystery”; too bad that someone who laughs all the time and always has a smile on his face doesn’t look mysterious at all.
I applied to the company after graduating from art school, and brought with me some drawings and a couple of short manga I made in school. They’re the makers of one of my favorite videogame series, Twisting Worlds, and I ended up applying for a job without thinking too much about it, hoping to contribute directly to the series. To this day, I worked on basically every other series they make except that one, and I’m starting to feel like they’re doing it on purpose. It’s true that being able to propose a new game and getting it approved is something most of my colleagues dream of, but I really wanted to leave a mark on Twisting Worlds.

“Good, good, you finally managed to hit! You do things better when you go in your own world, hahaha!”
Ah, he noticed. “Sorry sir, just some stuff on my mind.”
The third impact on my spine finally arrived, but I survived somehow. “Ain’t it about time you start calling me by my name? I don’t mind calling you Laszlo, Lassie, little Las, hahaha!”
The fact that he’s laughing all the time is another mystery. “I-is that really ok? You’re my boss, after all…”
He smiles loudly. “No problem, no problem!”
“Ok… H-Hil… H-Hilly…”
“What’s with the smirk, is it that weird to call me by my name? Hahaha!”
I can’t tell him that his name sounds hilarious, it wasn’t easy to gulp down the laughter before it came out. “I… might need some time to get used to it.”

I kept hitting the golf ball somewhat consistently (and sending it completely off target) until the investor arrived, accompanied by a younger man, probably even younger than me. “Hilly, it’s great to see you!”
“Garret, you’re finally here, hahaha!” - he then grabs me by my shoulders - “this one is Laszlo, the man we talked about!”
We shake hands, “oh, nice to meet you! I’m Garret Holden, I’m glad we could meet!”
“H-hi… I’m L-Laszlo… Nice t-to meefph- ow!” - and there I bit my tongue. I wanna go home.
My boss laughs with his usual deafening loud voice. “Hahaha! He’s a bit quirky, but as long he doesn’t have to talk with strangers, he’s very good at his job!”
Mr. Holden nods in agreement, “I can tell, the game concept he came up with is exceptional-“
But before he could finish speaking, the young man jumped in front of me. “YOU’RE THE CREATOR OF TWILIGHT FLOW??? ARE YOU???”
Ouch, I think my tongue is bleeding, it hurts like hell! Did I always have teeth this sharp? “Yef, dafs me-“
His eyes start sparkling, if they were headlights I’d be blind by now. “I’M SO HONORED, PLEASE TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU KNOW!!!”
“I donf fhink I can do daf, ow…” - especially not right now, that wasn’t just a bite, I chewed on it.
“Is that boy your assistant?”
The man puts his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “He’s my son, Chris. As soon as I mentioned that I was gonna meet the man behind the new game he started begging me to bring him with me, he never wanted to play with me before!”
Hell no, he’s a fan, I can’t handle this. I’m too socially awkward to have fans. I need to go somewhere else. “Ah. Sorry, I’ll go get some water for… this…”
The boy grabs my arm. “PLEASE ALLOW ME TO ACCOMPANY YOU, SIR!”
He’s of the desperate kind, too. “It’s just wat- ow! W-water, I can go alone. And please keep your voice down…”
He bows violently. “SORRY SIR! OKAY, I’LL GO GET SOME WATER FOR YOU THEN!”
I guess that’s better than having to go with him. “T-thank you then…”
And with a huge smile he goes toward the entrance of the club.
I sigh and try to recollect my thoughts. “I’m sorry, Mr. Holden, as I was saying, it’s nice to meet you…” - but I don’t sound too convincing when I can’t look at him in the eyes.
The smile on his face is reassuring. “Don’t worry, things like this can happen! It’s my pleasure to make your acquaintance, and please call me Garret! I thought it was gonna be just me and Hilly, but I’m glad that he proposed to bring you along, I wanted to have a chance to talk with you too since I was very impressed by the concept you came up with.”
“Ah, thank you… I’m glad to hear that you like the project.”
So it was my boss that told him I’d come, huh? I glare and pout at him, but he gets back at me by sticking his tongue out and winking. He does it every time, that’s how I learned that my boss watches anime. But despite that, it makes me happy to hear an investor say that they like the project. Most of the investors I talked with barely knew anything about the game, and a handful had just a general idea but didn’t comment much.

Mr. Holden stretches his arms. “Alright! Laszlo, is this your first time playing golf?”
I nod. “Yes, and I’m quite bad at it… Hope you won’t mind.”
Hopefully this won’t make him change his mind about the investment. Although I gotta say, I feel like I heard this voice before. Maybe it was during a meeting and I didn’t see him.
He pats my back. I almost forgot what real pats on the back were supposed to feel. “It’s ok, we all start somewhere, Chris is also new to this, and Hilly was quite bad at it too!”
He grins. “I still am compared to Garret, hahaha!”
These two seem to be good friends. “Have you known each other long?”
They look at each other. “We go back a long way, don’t we?”
“We sure do, worked together since before the merger with Lilyware! Those were the good times, hahaha!”
Oh, so maybe he knows about his past. “Mr. Hol- ahem, Garret, so you know about H…H-Hilly’s past roles at the company?”
“Sure do, we did some work together! But…” - he glances at my boss - “… he has reasons to keep them a secret, and so do I. My lips are sealed! But I feel like one day he will tell you.”
Hmm, at this point I’m starting to believe that something happened at Arc/Lily when he worked there. Anyway, at this point I think it’s better if I don’t pry too much.
I was just about to start feeling at ease, Garret is friendly and doesn’t overstep boundaries, I wish he could be my boss… but then, he came back.
“SIR! I GOT YOUR WATER SIR!” - and he shoves the bottle in my hands.
I had already forgotten about my tongue. “R-right, thanks…”
He seems about to start asking more questions so I rush to open the bottle and start drinking, but his father comes to my rescue. “Dear, don’t be so hyper with Laszlo, can’t you see he’s a bit uncomfortable?”
Chris looks at me, and all I can do is look away and smile embarrassedly. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
I kinda feel bad for him, though. He’s way too hyper for me, but he seems like a good guy. “I-it’s okay, don’t worry. I’m just not too good with strangers…”
My boss reads the situation very well. “Chris, let’s golf together!”
He smiles back at him, “yes sir!”

My stance seems solid, my grip is firm. I’m focused, I can do this. Prepare the swing. Breathe in. Hold my breath, count to two. One, two. Breathe out. I’m focused. I’m ready. I’m putting all my strength into this swing. My shoulders are moving together with my hips, arms swinging toward the target. The movement is complete, it’s my best effort yet, I’m confident. I look far away: I’m… on whatever the good part is called!

I get another so-called “pat” on the back. “Good job Las, you managed to stay on the fairway, hahaha!”
Garret agrees. “That’s pretty far too! Didn’t you say you’re bad at this?”
I laugh nervously. “Haha, yes, it was probably dumb luck, hahaha…”
This is the worst, now they’re gonna expect me to be actually good at this, sigh.
It’s Chris’ turn to hit the ball. I was expecting him to be better than me, but he didn’t miss the ball: he threw the golf club away altogether.
He’s the one getting the dreaded pat this time. “Hahaha! No worries, incidents like this can happen to newbies!”
He’s there, standing up proudly with his hands on his hips. “Look, dad, it went farther than that other time!”
His father wears visible disappointment on his face. “You’re not supposed to throw the club.”
He laughs it off and makes a victory sign in our direction. Not my boss nor I can find anything to say after this, so we silently nod at each other and agree not to say anything. We have this unspoken understanding thing going on between us, maybe it’s because of the time we spend together at work. Well, at least I’m not the worst player among us.

Mr. Garret is stroking his chin. “So, Laszlo…”
I gulp down. I didn’t do anything wrong, but my boss is not beside me giving emotional support with his presence. “Y-yes, Mr. Garret…?”
He’s glaring at me, I can feel his intense gaze. I’m avoiding his eyes. “You said you’re new at this, and could barely hit the ball.”
“I-I guess I d-did…”
He’s still stroking his chin. “Right, so… are you aware that we’re both on the green right now?”
I look at him. “Is it a bad thing?”
He tilts his head. “Why would it? It means you’re quite good. Maybe it was luck, but as for now, you’re on par with me.”
My boss ended up on a patch of sand, while Chris is lost somewhere between the trees.
“Well, with that said,” - he hits the ball lightly and gets it into the hole - “I’m taking this hole. Get it in one hit and you’ll score the same as me!”
He’s using a different kind of club, maybe it’s a good idea to switch to the same one. I hit the ball and… I miss the hole. That’s close, though.
He pats my back, lightly, unlike someone else. “Well, that’s still good!”
I put the ball in easily from where it ended up. “I guess I can consider it a success.”
He nods. “Yup! Appreciate the small things!”
He smiles at me, and I smile back. I’m starting to feel less tense around him.

We move away from the green and let the other two finish. My boss ended up with the same score as me, he got the ball in the hole with one hit, while Chris… well, he had fun.
We get on the golf cart, both Chris and I are already quite exhausted, my arms are sore from swinging for the whole morning. Garret seems fine, and my boss is still as energetic as usual. “Alright, that was one of the holes, eight more to go!”
Chris and I slowly look at each other with a desperate expression on our faces. How many?!

Licensed under Yozakura BY-NC-SA-NoAI 1.0